NCAA Urges MDL Panel To Keep Scholarship Suits Separate

By Lance Duroni

Law360, Chicago (May 29, 2014, 9:13 PM ET) -- The National Collegiate Athletic Association on Thursday asked the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to refrain from centralizing at least five antitrust class actions brought by college athletes claiming they were shortchanged on their scholarships, saying each case is unique enough to proceed on its own.

Speaking before all seven JPML judges in Chicago, Jeffrey A. Mishkin of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, who represents the NCAA, said that the relatively small number of cases and their subtle differences weighed against merging the...